CITROEN BID FOR KIWI WIN TO MAINTAIN CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD
Citroen Sport arrives on the other side of the Tasman this week for the 2008 Rally of New Zealand (28-31 August 2008) – the nearest the World Rally Championship comes to Australia this year – fresh from wins in Germany and Finland, gifting them the lead in the manufacturers’ title chase and putting four time World Championship winner, Sébastien Loeb at the front in the battle for the 2008 drivers’ title, but New Zealand will be no holiday – the Citroen team is promising maximum attack to keep its championship leads.
In addition to cars for Loeb and his team mate, Dani Sordo, Citroen is also providing Citroen C4 WRC cars for privateers Urmo Aava and Conrad Rautenbach in New Zealand for the 11th round of the 2008 World Rally Championship in a bid to enable the Citroen C4 WRC to follow in the footsteps of its predecessor, the Citroen Xsara WRC, which Loeb guided to victory in 2005.
For the third year running, the Rally New Zealand is based in Hamilton, and the route focuses essentially on the east coast of New Zealand's North Island with 16 stages totalling 354.58km.
While New Zealand provides drivers with one of the rallying calendar's finest terrains, the teams must necessarily address a complex technical challenge.
"The stages are neither rough nor bumpy; the difficult lies elsewhere," explains Citroën Sport's Technical Manager Xavier Mestelan Pinon. "We have had to take three chief factors into account when establishing the basic setup of our C4 WRCs for New Zealand: the fact that we will be using hard compound tyres in probably cold and even perhaps damp conditions, the fact that it is no longer possible to 're-cut' tread patterns for stages covered in a top coating of loose gravel and, last but not least, there is the specific profile of the stages.”
“The cambered roads feature a relatively steep slope towards the inside of the corners. When you get sequences of right then left corners following on from each other, the cars have to cross the sort of ridge you get as you pass from one turn to the next, which is a profile I suppose you could liken to the form of a propeller. The combination of all these factors promises to make this year's visit a particularly challenging event."
For World Champion, Loeb, returning to New Zealand is another stage in an on-going love affair with Kiwi roads.
"I have always enjoyed this rally ever since I first came here in 2002," admits Sébastien Loeb. "The lush green backdrop to the stages is magnificent. The stages are fast and technically demanding, but the cars don't suffer. From the driving point of view, it's certainly one of my favourite events."
"We narrowly missed out on victory last year by just three tenths of a second after one of the most thrilling fights the WRC has ever seen. I won't be able to take revenge this time, though, because Marcus Grönholm isn't around anymore," smiles Seb. "It nonetheless promises to be a very close three days of competition. We will be first on the road, but just how big a handicap that turns out to be will depend on how damp the conditions are. There are quite a few stages that we will only contest once, so we potentially stand to lose quite a lot of time. That said, the fact that we will be first on the road on Day 1 means that we are on top in the championship, and we intend to do all we can to defend that lead! The key will be to find a setup for our C4 WRC that works with the Pirelli Hard tyre. The setup we ran in Finland was very good and I had a great feeling with my car. It will be up to us to find ourselves in the same sort of position in New Zealand."
After finishing fourth in Finland and second in Germany, Dani Sordo and Marc Martí will be out to continue their current run of success as they travel to the southern hemisphere.
"It's a long way to get there, but I love the New Zealand stages and also the country itself," says Dani who has moved up to third place in the provisional Drivers' championship standings. "You can really just focus on your driving without fear of damaging the mechanicals, and that's very nice! This is only my third visit, of course. The pace is so quick that it's essential to have a good feel for the terrain and I still perhaps lack sufficient experience. That said, our performance in Finland suggests that a good result is possible. Indeed, there are a few similarities between the two events, so that will be a big confidence booster in New Zealand. I'm expecting it to be very close again, and I intend to approach the three days very cautiously, although I would very much like to target another podium finish."
Event notes: 2008 RALLY NEW ZEALAND
•38th Rally New Zealand (August 2831): round 11 of 15.
•Citroën and Rally New Zealand: Citroën has won this event once: 2005, Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena, Xsara.
•Surface: gravel.
•Base: Hamilton.
•The Crew Statistics
•Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: WRC debut: Catalonia, 1999 (Saxo Kit Car, retired). WRC starts: 108. First WRC win: Germany, 2002 (Xsara). WRC wins: 43. WRC world titles: 4 (2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007).•Dani Sordo: WRC debut: Catalonia, 2003 (18th). WRC starts: 54. Junior title: 2005 (C2 S1600). Marc Martí: WRC debut: Catalonia, 1992 (21st). WRC starts: 120. Junior title: 2005 (C2 S1600).
•The crews' Rallye Deutschland records: Sébastien Loeb/Daniel Elena: fifth participation: 2007 (C4, 2nd), 2005 (Xsara, 1st), 2004 (Xsara, 1st), 2003 (Xsara, 4th). They reconnoitered the 2002 and 2006 events.
•Dani Sordo: third participation: 2007(with Marc Marti/C4, 6th), 2006(with Marc Martí/Xsara, 5th).
•Marc Martí: sixth participation: 2007 (with Dani Sordo/C4, 6th), 2006(with Dani Sordo/Xsara, 5th), 2004 (with Carlos Sainz/Xsara WRC, 6th), 2003 (with Carlos Sainz/Xsara WRC, 12th) and 1997(with Oriol Gomez/Seat, 15th).
•Conrad Rautenbach/David Senior and Urmo Aava/Kuldar Sikk will drive privately entered Citroën C4WRCs. The two cars are prepared and run by PH Sport with the support oftechnicians from Citroën Sport Technologies.
•Technical: The chassis and engine for New Zealand are paired with Japan. The cars used in Hamilton will go on to Sapporo for October's Rally Japan. The same engine will also contest the Wales Rally GB in December. Two gearbox/differential packages are authorised per driver. Five sets of dampers and five hub carriers are authorised per event.
•Tyres: only one type of tyre is available, namely the Pirelli Scorpion WRC 205/65R15 Hard. It is possible to carry two spares, but the 'recutting' of tread patterns is not permitted. 42 tyres may be used during the event (including shakedown).
•Recce: scheduled for Tuesday August and Wednesday 27 August (08.00 until 18.45). Two passes are authorised at a maximum speed of 90kph.
•Shakedown: Thursday August 28 (08.00 until 12.00). The 3.08km test stage uses the superspecial which is situated near the Mystery Creek service park.
•Press conference: Thursday August 28 (from 13.30), press office, Mystery Creek.
•Start ceremony: Thursday August 28 (from 18.30), Hood Street, Hamilton town centre (cars start in reverse order).
•Route: the total distance is 1,218.38km, including 354.58km divided into 16 stages (10 different).
•Day 1 (Friday August 29): 430.40km, including 139.54km divided into 5 stages (3 different). Starts from the service park at 08.20. SS1 (Pirongia West 1, 24.22km) and SS2 (Waitomo 1, 43.98km). Regroup (12.11, 28 minutes). Service A (12.39, 30 minutes). SS3 (Pirongia West 2), SS4 (Waitomo 2) and SS5 (Mystery Creek Superspecial 1, 3.14km). Service B (17.18, 45 minutes). Last car due into parc ferme at 22.15.
•Day 2 (Saturday August 30): 545.39km, including 130km divided into 6 stages (6 different). Starts from parc ferme. Service C (06.50, 15 minutes). SS6 (Port Waikato, 17.22km), SS7 (Possum, 13.78km), SS8 (Franklin, 31.58km) and SS9 (Mystery Creek Superspecial 2). Regroup (12.52, 23 minutes). Service D (13.15, 30 minutes). SS10 (Te Akau South, 31.92km) and SS11 (Te Akau North, 32.36km). Service E (17.46, 45 minutes). Last car due into parc ferme at 22.15.
•Day 3 (Sunday August 31): 242.59km, including 85.04km divided into 5 stages (3 different). Starts from parc ferme. Service F (07.45, 15 minutes). SS12 (Te Hutewai 1, 11.23km), SS13 (Whaanga Coast 1, 29.72km). Regroup (10.37, 20 minutes). Remote service G, Raglan (10.57, 15 minutes). SS14 (Te Hutewai 2), SS15 (Whaanga Coast 2) and SS16 (Mystery Creek superspecial 3). Service H (14.18, 10 minutes). Podium ceremony from 15.00.
•Podium ceremony: Sunday August 31 (from 15.00), Mystery Creek.
•Post-rally press conference: Sunday August 31 (from 15.45), press office, Mystery Creek.
•New: There is little that is new about this year's route. Pirongia West (SS1/3) has been lengthened by 5.91km (at the end), while Waitomo (SS2/4) has a new start location.
(ends)
For further information:
Citroën Australia Media Web Site:
Miles Williams
/ Tel: (02) 9701 8020General Manager / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0419 800 520
E-Mail:
Edward Rowe
/ Tel: (02) 9701 8015Public Relations Manager / Fax: (02) 9701 3555
Citroën Australia / Mob: 0407 913 244
E-Mail:
Citroen Australia
Street Address: Heritage Building, Campus Business Park, 350 Parramatta Road, Homebush NSW 2140 Australia. Postal Address: Ateco Automotive Pty Ltd,Locked Bag 260, Silverwater, NSW 1811, Australia
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EJR/ejr/851
8/23/2008